Some of the bigger reductions this week came from Motorola (3,000), Qwest (1,200), and Electronic Arts (600).  Among startups, there were job cuts at Revision3 (10), Emusic (10), Sugar Publishing (9), Aliph/Jawbone (25), matchmine (42, deadpool), and Gizmos (10).  We’ve also started adding media companies facing disruption from the Internet, including Gannett (3,000), Time Inc. (600), and Conde Nast (32), whose Portfolio magazine laid off nearly all of its Website staff.

Here is the full list of layoffs from the past week:

Amdocs	October 27, 2009	St Louis, MO	500	3%	The Globes
Conde Nast (Portfolio)	October 31, 2008	New York, NY	32	20%	WSJ
Symantec	October 31, 2008	Nationwide	880	5%	Insider
YouSendit	October 31, 2008	Campbell, CA	14	20%	VentureBeat
Aliph (Jawbone)	October 31, 2008	San Francisco, CA	25	30%	Cnet
Sugar Publishing	October 30, 2008	San Francisco, CA	9	11%	TechCrunch
60Frames	October 30, 2008	Los Angeles, CA	6	40%	NewTeeVee
Motorola	October 30, 2008		3,000		WSJ
Electronic Arts	October 30, 2008		600	6%	Kotaku
Sonic Solutions	October 30, 2008	Novato, California	100		silicontap.com
Microsoft/Razorfish	October 30, 2008	New York	40	2%	TechFlash
Emusic	October 30, 2008		10	10%	Media Memo
Avelle	October 29, 2008	Seattle	10	20%	TechFlash
Qwest	October 29, 2008		1,200	3%	Bloomberg
NewACT	October 29, 2008	Israel	15	33%	TheMarker
Intrepid Learning	October 29, 2008	Seattle	10	5%	TechFlash
SupportSpace	October 29, 2008	Israel	12	50%	TheMarker
Time Inc.	October 28, 2008	Nationwide	600	6%	New York Times
Gannett	October 28, 2008	Mclean, VA	3,000	10%	Reuters
Avalanche Studios	October 28, 2008	Sweden	77	48%	GamesIndustry.biz
W2 (Racepoint Group and Digital Influence Group)	October 28, 2008	San Francisco, Boston, Washington, D.C., London	30	20%	Mass High Tech
Delver	October 28, 2008	Israel	5	20%	TheMarker
Smashface	October 27, 2008	Los Angeles, CA	3	33%	Company blog
Olista	October 27, 2008	Israel	15	30%	TheMarker
matchmine	October 27, 2008	Needham MA	42	99%	TechCrunch
Revision3	October 27, 2008	San Francisco, CA	10	30%	TechCrunch
Discretix	October 27, 2008	Israel	10	10%	TheMarker
Extricom	October 27, 2008	Israel	20	20%	TheMarker
yoomba	October 27, 2008	Israel	10	50%	TheMarker
Exanet	October 27, 2008	Israel	30	20%	TheMarker
Starhome	October 27, 2008	Israel	10	4%	TheMarker
Puding Media	October 27, 2008	Israel	5	16%	TheMarker
Gizmoz	October 26, 2008	Israel	10	30%	TheMarker

Thanks to a large reduction in expenses, Google’s third-quarter results were slightly better than analysts expected and its stock jumped more than 10 percent in after-hours trading after closing at $353.02.

“We had a good third quarter with strong traffic and revenue growth across all of our major geographies, thanks to the underlying strength of our core search and ads business,” Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said in a statement. “While we are realistic about the poor state of the global economy, we will continue to manage Google for the long term.”

Google’s third-quarter revenue increased 31 percent to $5.54 billion compared with the same quarter one year ago. Excluding commissions paid to advertising partners, Google’s revenue was $4 billion.

Google’s net income was $1.35 billion, or $4.28 a share, up 26 percent from the same period a year ago. Excluding options expenses, earnings per share was $4.92, 19 cents more than analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected.

“They showed great discipline on costs,” said Jeffrey Lindsay, a senior analyst with Sanford Bernstein.

Patrick Pichette, who was hired as Google’s new chief financial officer in June, told analysts on a conference call that employees in every division had successfully kept costs down. Google also is dramatically trimming the number
Advertisement
of contractors it uses. Those contractors include everyone from members of its public relations team to its cafeteria workers and bus drivers.

In an interview, Google co-founder Sergey Brin said the company has been concerned about its high contracting expense. Brin said Google augments its workforce of 20,123 employees with about 10,000 contractors.

“It’s really high,” Brin said of the number of contractors. He said Google began looking at the number six months ago and has a plan to significantly reduce that number through vendor management, converting some contractors to regular employees, and other approaches.

“How do I choose categories for my blog?” This is a question I’m asked a lot so when Ali Hale from Alpha Student asked if he could write a post on the topic of choosing categories I was all ears!

Before you start reading this, take a quick look at something very important: your own blog. What do you see when you glance at the Categories list? If you’re anything like most bloggers, it will include categories which:

• You used a couple of years ago but don’t use any more
• Have only one or two posts in
• Have names that aren’t self-explanatory
• Seemed like a good idea at the time, when you added them for one specific post

There’s plenty of blogging advice about how to craft posts, how to gain readers, and how to start your first blog - but surprisingly little has been written about how to choose your categories. The only advice I could find was from Lorelle on Wordpress:

Most people add categories on the fly or list everything they want to talk about in their categories and then work to fill them up as they go. I made a plan for this blog’s articles and I wanted to keep the focus narrow and the structure clean. I believe working from a very specific plan helps keep a blog on track and more successful. Plans can change over time, but start your journey with a good map.

I’ve just launched a new blog (Alpha Student), which has meant a lot of planning, brainstorming and head-scratching. One of the biggest puzzles has been how to choose suitable categories - which has led me to think hard about how I use categories as a reader, and how categories are typically used in the blogosphere.

I thought a good place to start was my first blog, The Office Diet, where I followed a similar process to most bloggers:

• I entered the categories that I thought I might write on when I launched the blog without putting much thought into it.
• I added more categories as I went along (for series, or any post which didn’t fit an existing category).

In doing so, I unwittingly made a number of common mistakes. I’m going to go through four big ones - and bring in some examples from other blogs where I think the categories list could have been more effectively planned.

And once I’ve shown you some of the mistakes, I’ll explain how you can choose your categories effectively in order to avoid making them.

Mistake 1: Failing to Plan

The mistake which most bloggers make is failing to plan at all - and, if they do plan, failing to adjust that plan to fit reality!

With The Office Diet, I knew I wanted to create a few downloadable resources for readers in the first month (January) - such as a food diary template. So I had a category called “Resources” which was supposed to hold this sort of posts. In practice, though, I’ve only written a handful of these.

I suspect some other bloggers have met similar problems, when they’ve either not planned ahead (ask yourself “Will I use this category frequently?” if you add one for a specific post) or where their plans haven’t quite matched up with what really happens.

For example, on The Simple Dollar, Trent has the categories “Décor” and “S&P 500” which only have one post in each. “Sunday Conversation” only has three posts. Although this is conjecture, I think Trent probably added those categories on a day when he wrote on those specific topics - and didn’t plan ahead for whether he’d use them again.

Mistake 2: Using Categories for Series

Lots of big blogs, including ProBlogger, Daily Blog Tips and many more use categories for series. I did the same on The Office Diet, when I wrote the “Basics”, “Healthy Mind” and “Excuse-Busting” series. I now think that this was a mistake.

Readers who come to a blog for the first time are likely to use your categories to navigate to posts that they’re interested in. Category names often aren’t self-explanatory, and if the series ran a year ago, all the posts in that category will be old. If you run a lot of series, your category list will quickly become cluttered up. And navigating through a series by clicking on a category often means scrolling through multiple pages of posts - often a pain for readers.

I would suggest that, for the majority of blogs, posts in a series should be categorised “normally” just like any other posts. Each post in the series should have a link at the top and bottom going to an index post (or even a page) which holds links to the whole series. You might also want to include a link to the previous and next posts in the series from each.

For a shortish series (under 10 posts), you could even put the index at the top of every post - the Men with Pens do this to great effect on their Guest Posting series (as an aside, this is a great read for any blogger thinking about writing guest posts). Or put it at the bottom of every post, like Sonia on Remarkable Communication is doing with her Objection Blaster Series.

Mistake 3: Categories at Different Granularities

A very common problem with categories is not keeping your categories at the same level of granularity. By that, I mean that some of your categories are probably very broad and others are very narrow. This is often caused by failing to plan: it’s a good idea to sit down for an hour or two and decide roughly how many categories you want, and how broad or detailed that means they’ll be.

Blogs which are narrowly focused on a niche will probably have narrow, specific topics as readers are likely to be looking for expert advice in particular areas. Blogs with a very wide remit need broad categories to help readers weed out the areas that aren’t interesting to them.

On Problogger, I would suggest that the categories list has some items which cover too narrow an area. For example, “Yahoo Publishing Network” is very specific when compared with categories like “Advertising” and “Blog Networks”.

Mistake 4: Inconsistent Category Naming

I’d bet good money that, at some point, you’ve come across a categories list on a blog and wondered what the heck some of the categories meant. Perhaps most were self explanatory, like “Reader Questions” or “Content Writing” but then you came across “Special”. Special what? Try to make sure your category names can be understood without the reader having to click on them to figure out what they might mean.

Or maybe you see a blog which has a nice neat list of one-word categories, then one which is five words long so gets a disproportionate amount of space compared to its importance. (Usually, the shorter the name of a category, the broader its remit and the larger the number of posts it contains.)

This is a tiny point - but be consistent with capitalisation. One of my favourite blogs, The Change Blog, capitalises all the categories except two (“blog carnival” and “personal growth”) - to me, this looks a little odd.

Another problem is when some of the categories have quite formal names (“Finances, Frugality, Investment”) and others are slangy or chatty (“Quick tips”, “Easy wins”). The way in which you name your categories is important in setting the tone for your whole blog. On most blog templates, the categories list displays on the front page: that means you need to put at least as much thought into the wording of your categories as you do into the wording of your headlines.

Doing It Right

Now that I’ve been through the common mistakes people make with categories, you might be looking at your own blog in dismay - or rethinking your plans for the one you’re about to launch.

I mentioned earlier that I’ve just launched a new blog which took a considerable amount of planning. You can see the categories page at www.alphastudent.com/categories (I chose not to list the categories on the front page).

Rule 1: As Few Categories As Possible

Due to my blog design, I needed to keep the number of categories down to make sure they fitted comfortably in the list. I also wanted room to show the latest post from each category.

Most bloggers would benefit from using as few categories as possible. This avoids blog clutter in your sidebar, and avoids presenting readers with a forbidding list of dozens of different topics.

Alpha Student has a wide remit - “Helping you make the most of your time at university” - and covers everything from advice on exam technique to lists of flash games to play when you need a break. I decided on the categories:

Academic
Career
Financial
Personal
Practical
Social

When you’re planning your blog, think about how many categories you really need … can two of your topics be conflated into one are?

If you’ve got an existing blog, take a look at your categories list and note any which are superfluous.

Rule 2: Don’t Be too Specific

Try not to be too specific, at least to start with. I deliberately kept my topics very broad. I could have broken down “Academic” into “Essays”, “Exams”, “Lectures”, “Seminars” and so on. When your blog is new, having dozens of categories means that lots of them will only contain one or two posts for a while.

Even if your blog’s been going for a while, you’ll find that some categories are too narrow - anything which contains under 5% of the total posts on your blog can probably be ditched.

Rule 3: Think Ahead

I know that with Alpha Student, I’ll want to run some series. For example, I’m going to do a series on essay writing with posts on topics like “Planning your essay”, “The first line of your essay”, and so on. But I don’t want to introduce a category just for a short series.

So I’m planning to categorize all those posts under “Academic”, which means readers browsing the academic section can find them easily. (Bear in mind that the majority of your readers won’t sit down and follow a whole series from beginning to end - they might only read one post from the middle.)

I’ll also have a single post announcing the series which will contain a list of the posts in the series, linking to each one. The individual posts in the series will link back to this index post.

How do you (or how will you) manage series on your blog?

What about competitions, giveaways and other one-offs? Think about how you can make these easy for readers to follow without using a category.

Over to You

As I said at the start of this article, little has been written about choosing categories for your blog. I’d love us to start remedying that here!

What are your thoughts on this topic - do you have a particular plan behind the categories on your blog? Do you think that categories aren’t really that important? Is there anything you wish you’d done differently with the way you’ve used categories?

Ali has just launched Alpha Student, a blog aimed at helping students make the most of their time at university.

source:- problogger

By Steve Dahl

Row, row, row your boat…
If you’re trying to build on online shop to capitalize on the explosive online store business that the DubLi Network brings to the world, make sure you have both oars in the water before you launch your home shopping business. Listen to this story…

As the ship sank to the bottom of the sea, six men quickly boarded the life raft. They all got into the boat with three men on each side. They picked up their oars and started rowing as hard as they could. The only problem was, three of them rowed forward and three of them rowed backwards. Someone kept yelling, “Row harder, row harder!” As they did they went faster and faster… in circles.

It’s important to have all your oars in the water if you want your home shopping or online store to succeed in the competitive internet marketing world but it’s just as important to make sure all your oars are lined up and pulling in the same direction. It takes a team to build an online business and when you join the DubLi Network you are building a team around you that helps keep everyone rowing in the same direction.

Getting everyone on your team rowing in the same direction is called alignment. It is a key ingredient to any team’s success. Although everyone in the boat agreed they needed to get in that boat and start rowing fast and hard, they didn’t all agree on which direction to go before they started. A little alignment would have made their efforts less stressful and more effective.

So, for today, ask yourself… “How am I working in alignment with my team? How am I going to get all of us rowing in the same direction so I can have more people on the next call, more prospects at the next meeting, and more success for myself and my downline?”

If you ever feel like you keep rowing faster and faster and still seem to be going in circles, then maybe your life is due for a little re-alignment. You align the wheels on your car for a reason. It creates less wear and tear on your tires and you have a more fuel-efficient vehicle. Your online business also needs a little re-alignment now and then.

If you want your DubLi Network business to thrive and your online shopping customers to be thrilled with you and the products they find on DubLi, then bring your team together, discuss the concept of alignment and get everyone rowing in the same direction. With everyone rowing in the same direction, you’ll arrive on the shores of success much faster.

Learn more about building your online business. Contact Jason Switzer at 619-253-8064.

shop online
online shop
home shopping
shop at home
home shopping online
shopping online
online store
buy online

There is a big difference in trying to do something and intending to do something. For example a football player might says, “I am going to try and catch the football and run it in for a touchdown.” That statement will no doubt be met with some harsh words from the coach. “You’re going to TRY?” If you TRY to do anything that’s all you can do is try. Trying to lose weight, trying to change a habit, trying to achieve a goal is a very low energy, weak position to start from. There is no success in trying. Contrast that with the word “Intend.” Now feel the difference, “I intend to catch that football and run it in for a touchdown!” I intend to eat all my fruits and vegetables today! I intend to meet my goal by March 15th no matter what!”

1.    Stop Trying

Rather than go through life on autopilot, why not choose where you want your plane to land? Why not direct yourself gently, easily, effortlessly through the use of intention. In our acronym VITAL – the second secret is represented by the letter “I” for Intention.

If you think about it, everything that takes place in your life is either a habit or an intention. One creates a default result and the other creates an intended result. Habits have a way of running our lives. Intentions have a way of creating our lives. Which do you want? If you live by your habits then you’ve decided to let your habits, your environment, coworkers, family, friends and neighbors direct your life. What a good time. If you live your life with intention, you will decide how your life is created. You will still have habits but you will choose the ones that support you in achieving your goals and living the life YOU want!

Intention is about productive energy. It is not something you necessarily have to do but a force that already exists in our universe. Habits on the other hand are more about controlling energy. They are designed to keep you in a state of homeostasis. That’s the scientific term for stuck!

2.    Take Action

Knowledge
So this is what you need to know if you want to continue to transform some aspect of your life. Inertia is supported by habits. Sitting still and doing nothing is easily supported by a long list of habits. Transformation is supported by intention. Making changes in your life is supported by setting clear intentions. Habits are what we do in our lives 95% of the time. Therefore, 95% of your energy is spent keeping you in the same habits that are so well established in your life. If you want to quite smoking, find a new job, discover a new relationship, you must first recognize the incredible amount of energy going against you. Not in an evil or negative way, just the simple laws of physics. The bicycle is hardest to pedal for the first 20 feet and then it suddenly becomes quite easy to move along. The engine on your car takes a few seconds of extra energy to get started but once  running, it’s no big deal. The physical inertia of our lives holds us to the patterns we have established until there is energetic momentum to change the direction and establish a new pattern.

Intention is simply the belief that clear focus, actions and environment in alignment with that focus, confidence in oneself, trusting the universe, and a higher level of energy will produce an outcome that one desires. This outcome can be produced with or without a lot of expended energy.

But the habits that don’t serve you so well might be worth taking a closer look at. Habits such as smoking, drinking too much alcohol, eating fast, eating out of stress, mindlessly turning on the TV, leaving paperwork unfinished, procrastination, etc. can often be unconscious habits that we would never choose if we really gave it a little thought before hand.

Habits formed are often scorned
but Intentions set are often met.

Two things to do: Break old habits, set new intentions.

Breaking a habit is easy. Just stop doing what you’re doing. Really, think about it! If you’re doing something you don’t like and it’s not serving you any more, just knock it off! If you find the hair on the back of your neck going up at this brash and simplistic statement, then we are on the right track. Changing a habit doesn’t have to be hard but many of us will make it hard. That should be an indicator to you about how engrained this habit is in your life. Ask yourself this. “What is my fear about changing this habit? Why would I not end this habit now that I’ve decided to do something different?” If you have the ability to observe yourself and recognize when your defensiveness goes up then that’s where you need to put your energy. The inmates are running the asylum! The fox is guarding the chicken coup! Your habits are running your life. Today you can begin using powerful intentions to replace ineffective habits. An intention is a strong commitment to a very clear outcome. Breaking a habit sounds like drudgery, no fun, painful, and slow. Setting an intention sounds energizing, exciting, and rewarding. It sounds empowering, practical, and strong.

Habits are for whiners, intentions are for winners.

Habits are for whiners… I want to lose weight but I just can’t seem to avoid chocolate ice cream! I don’t know what to do! Intentions are for winners… I intend to lose 10 pounds by the 15th of February and I have a system, a plan, and the support I need to do it!” Given that, let’s not spend a lot of time worrying about breaking old habits. It is much more empowering to simply set new intentions and develop systems, plans, and support to achieve them.

Habits and intention should not be categorized as right or wrong, there are good and not so good in both. Habits formed without awareness may do a great job of helping you stay right where you are… if that’s what you want. But when it comes to making changes in our lives, old habits hold on to their roots like a well-established weed. You keep pulling and pulling and the best you can do is get the top of it lopped off, only to find it growing back in exactly the same spot a short time later.

Action
Intention is less like pulling a weed and more like planting a seed. The bible said something like,” If you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can move mountains.”  That’s how an intention can work. Plant the seeds of what you intend to harvest and it is done. The farmer does not go back to the soil and dig up his seeds to see how they are doing. He knows that once he prepares the soil and plants the seed at the opportune time, the rest is up to nature. He knows the sprouts will come, the plants will grow, and the harvest will follow.

Benefits of Intentions:

1.    The proper use of intentions will awaken the dormant forces, faculties, talents, and energies within you to manifest your desires.
2.    When your intention is clear your body, heart, and soul will expand to support you.
3.    A powerful intention allows you to transcend limitations. It allows you to rise above old habits and break through to skills, talents, and resources you didn’t even know existed.
4.    Clear intentions create a new space for receptivity. There is more room for goodness in your life when operating from intention.
5.    You will have more success with intentions when you are in a peaceful and grateful state of mind. A mind at war cannot create peace.
6.     An intention creates an opportunity to do what has never been done before.
7.    Intentions are careless. They don’t care about your past. You must recognize that you, are not your past. Your past is your past and does not limit you in any way.

“This, or something better!”

In this third lesson, we have mixed the Knowledge and Action steps together. As you review these various ways to make intentions work for you, choose your own action steps. There are questions, challenges, and actions for your to do throughout this section. Select a few of them to focus on and practice them immediately.

12 ways to make intentions work for you!

1.    Change Your Words – drop the “trying” language. Change your vocabulary to strong and empowering language. Stop using “wishful thinking” and use “intentional living.” Never say “I can’t do that, we can’t afford that, I don’t know how.” Because none of those statements are ever true. What ever you claim, the universe will support, so use language that takes you where you want to be not where you don’t want to be. When you begin using intentions, focus exclusively on what you want, not what you don’t want.

2.    Stop telling others about your problems. Quit complaining about your weight or your health or your money. Any negative-toned word will only drain your energy. If you find yourself starting to complain, saying something that you don’t want to have happen or getting caught up in gossip just say, “Cancel, cancel,” out loud and redirect your language. See the good or the opportunities in every situation. See the lessons available and the humorous side of things every chance you can. That doesn’t mean you discount anyone’s feelings or find humor at other people’s expense, it simply means, this is life and stuff happens. It is always going to happen and we’ll never get out of this life alive anyway so just relax!

3.    Change what you view and do. Change to a learning view of life rather than a doing view of life. When you are so busy that you can’t observe yourself and learn from your own behavior, you are essentially sleep-walking through life. Don’t live this life unconsciously! It’s too long to waste it! Slow down, do less, view more! Observe and enjoy life around you. Everything that happens is an opportunity to learn and grow. It’s a much less stressful way to live life. Make a list of some of the ongoing activities you are involved in that no longer excite you. Consider changing how you participate in them or consider dropping them altogether.

4.    Unclench your grip. In other words, let go – let go of the outcome. You can’t control what will happen, no matter what. Surrender your ego to let nature and/or Spirit take its course. We’re not saying throw in the towel, give up, or do nothing, quite the opposite! Stay active. Take the actions you know in your heart will put you closer to your dreams. But, and it’s a big but, don’t get hung up on the outcome of your efforts. Once you set a clear intention, it’s done. It’s going to have an outcome that is beyond your control. You might add this to the end of every intention – “This, or something better, for the highest good of all concerned!” A certain level of detachment to your intentions allows you to keep a clear head so you can focus on staying fully present. The only time you have is here and now. Don’t waste it by keeping a grip on the past or by agonizing over the future. Make a list of a few things that you feel you really need to control. What things tend to make your blood boil? What things cause you anxiety because of the way other’s do them? What if you turned over responsibility of those things to someone else? What if you just decided that the outcome of these things is really not that big of deal? How would you feel? Consider changing or dropping things that disturb your peace.
5.    Visualize your intention. Intention requires seeing yourself there, experiencing the feelings, the emotions, the benefits of this manifestation. Before setting your intention, ask yourself, “What is the experience I want to have?” Visualization can be a mental process or an artistic process. Get out the paint brush and paint yourself into a beautiful scene. Cut out magazine photos and make a Vitality Board with pictures that demonstrate your vision. Write a poem about the joyful feelings you have as you achieve your dreams.
6.    Decide which universe you live in. Answer the question that Albert Einstein asked, “Do I live in a friendly universe or in a hostile universe?” Whatever you believe, you will achieve. You will start to look for evidence to support your belief. We suggest you consider the idea that we all live in a friendly, kind, generous, and loving universe. This is a great discussion to have over the dinner table with family or friends. You can also make it like a debate team project. Have everyone pick sides and debate this issue, then have them switch sides and debate it again.
7.    Align your life. To prepare yourself for effective intentioning (I just made that word up) you will need to bring your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors into alignment. This will allow you to manifest whatever you intend. If you intend to lose 50 pounds in the next six months, you might align that intention with your refrigerator. For your intention to be taken seriously, you might consider throwing out the unhealthy items in your fridge before you set that intention. If you are in alignment with your intention, you will create an environment that supports that intention. What else can you do to support you in losing that weight? Cancel your movie channel upgrade with the cable company and spend that money on the health club? Buy a new pair of running shoes instead of going out to an overstuffing dinner tonight? You get the point. You can’t fool Mother Nature and you can’t misalign your way to successful intentions. Why not see what it feels like to clean out the cupboards or that refrigerator of everything that you know isn’t supportive to your health? You might want to explain to others in the household what you’re up to or there might be a little resistance!
8.    Write about it. After you have set your intention, write without stopping for 20 minutes on how your life is going to be better for having set such a meaningful intention.
9.    Meditate. It’s not hard, it’s free, and it’s effective in clearing the mind to allow you to be in a receptive state of mind. Meditating 20 minutes is equivalent to a full night’s sleep. Mohatma Ganhdi said, “I meditate for an hour every day, unless I’m really busy, then I meditate for two hours.” You will find this process very useful in many areas of your life. If you’ve never meditated before, here’s how it works. Sit with your back straight, feet on the floor in a comfortable position. Hold your hands gently in your lap with your palms up. Close your eyes and set a timer for 20 minutes. Concentrate on a beautiful inspiring nature scene that you love or simply allow your thoughts to flow. Some people take meditation courses and learn a mantra to repeat as a way of staying focused on, well, nothing!
10.    Avoid low energy activities. Staying away from energy draining people, foods, and media allows more good to flow into your life. Cut out the booze, the fat, the complainers, the victims, and the constant barrage of murder, rape, and other trash online or on your TV and you have the opportunity to fill your life with uplifting, life-giving, healthy activities that will support you in manifesting your intentions. Here’s a challenge for you. Turn off the TV for 24 hours. Find other things to do and see what happens!
11.    Quite trying to be right. Would you rather be happy or right? Make the choice and stick with it. Letting go of the need to prove yourself or to get the last word in or to raise yourself by putting someone else down only gets in the way of a peaceful world. Experiment today. Agree with everyone today and respect everyone’s opinion.
12.    Practice random acts of kindness every day. There is no better way to open up the possibilities in your life than by giving to others. Give someone a gift, a compliment, a pat on the back. Do it without expectation of any recognition or payback. Put a $20 bill on someone’s windshield. Drop an anonymous bouquet of flowers on someone’s desk. Send a note of recognition to someone you’ve never met. Tell someone you work with or a family member how much you appreciate them today. Do something for others that you would love to have done for you.

Examples of intentions:

1.    I intend to finish reading this book by Friday and gracefully pass my test on Saturday! I am supporting this intention by making my reading a priority, minimizing study time distractions, and reviewing my notes. This or something better for the highest good of all concerned!
2.    It is my strong intention that for the next 48 hours I will drink water, chew gum, exercise, state my affirmations, and kick this smoking addiction for the last time! I am supporting this intention by clearing my home and car of all tobacco products and smells, placing my affirmations everywhere, and asking my friends to call and encourage me throughout the next 48 hours.
3.    I intend to learn to speak Spanish with confidence by the April 15th by attending my classes twice each week, completing my homework on time and practicing this new skill when ever and where ever I can!
4.    I intend to discover a meaningful relationship by the end of this year. I support this intention by nurturing myself and practicing extreme self care every day in every way. I am further supporting this intention by listing myself on a safe online dating site, going to my church social functions, and letting my friends know I’m available!
5.    It is my intention to go into this tennis match feeling fully prepared, overflowing with energy, and absolutely committed to connecting my racket to that ball with power and accuracy in every swing I take!
6.    I intend to win that bonus by signing up five more distributors by the end of this month. I am supporting this intention by enthusiastically following up on my leads, asking for referrals, and offering samples at least five times each week. This or something better for the highest good of all concerned!

Reflection
Set an important intention. Follow some of the steps outlined to make this intention powerful for you. Now, take 20 minutes and write about your life as if your intention has manifested itself. What does it feel like, look like, smell like, sound like? Describe in detail what it is like to live with this success.

Here’s an affirmation for you to use today: What I desire today is now on its way!

Until next time, live with intention and live with vitality!

this post was contributed by Jason Switzer from thedubliblog.com

Nick James is a UK based direct marketer and product
developer. During the last 5 years Nick has sold in excess
of £1.6 Million Pounds worth of products and sevices
online. Subscribe to his Free Tip Of The Week email at:
http://www.Nick-James.com

“Listen, There’s No Need To SHOUT!”
“Selling ISN’T Yelling!”

You may have heard that line before. But, what you may not
have heard is that Selling IS Yelling, in some arenas.

That’s right.

Let me show you what I mean.

Say you’re a fruit seller in amongst a gaggle of sellers in
a crowded market place environment. In all probability
you’ve got to use your lung power to attract the wandering
passer by in to listening to, and then buying what you’re
selling.

(The old Zig Ziglar (sales trainer) line comes to mind
here, where he says “timid sales people have skinny kids!”.
How true.)

What if you’re on the stock market trading floor as a
jobber? That’s a place where you’ve got to invest in some
serious bellow from the belly in order to get heard.

Or how about if you’re in the funfair amusement industry
where you’re continually blaring out to possible punters
“ROLL UP, ROLL UP, TRY IT OUT!”

Let me be quick to mention that I’m not suggesting that any
of the above professions or occupations are bad or lowly in
any way. They’re not.

Though, the title of this article is to do with you
communicating with prospects and customers that doesn’t
require Yelling, in order to sell.

Yet, how many times do most businesses FRUIT STALL YELL to
their prospects, only to find that it falls on deaf ears?

See, even though good products and services are much needed
by the consumer, it can be a right turn off because of HOW
the message is received in our senses.

I remember an ad written by Charles Saatchi (of Saatchi and
Saatchi Advertising) whose client was one of the charities
appealing for funds.

Now, in order to draw attention to the desperate plight of
those needing the funds, Saatchi used the following to
attract attention to the ad (and, it was in the Times or
The Guardian newspaper!):

“LISTEN YOU LITTLE SH*! YOU NEED TO STOP DOING WHAT YOU’RE
DOING AND PAY ATTENTION TO THIS!”

(The whole line may not be word for word correct, but, the
first FOUR WORDS definitely are!)

Let me tell you, any intention I had of giving any funds
quickly faded away, vanished into the night like a shadow.

Like it or not, we all want to be communicated to with a
little respect, kindness and commonsense courtesy, am I
right?

Most businesses say, “Buy From Us, We’re The Best”. Why
yell that out? Everyone else is doing the same. Why not
PROVE you’re the best? Why not let the reader or prospect
decide?

What’ll happen if you say instead something like, “We don’t
know if we’re the best, but we’d sure like for you to find
out if we can help fix your problem. Here’s what a dozen
other people have to say about us!”

Can you see the difference?

It’s that simple shift, that little subtlety, the
difference that’ll cause joy to ring out, or… trigger the
alarm bells to signal “DANGER AHOY!”

Though, having an alarm bell loudly tringing away is one
way to POSITIVELY YELL that things aren’t working!

What can you do to stop the YELLING and focus on SELLING to
your prospects and customers?

CLUE: Whatever you notice, put it to work, quick. Fleetness
of thinking and quick to implement will reap multiple
rewards.

It’s important that you take time to research the subject
concerned. Visit your local library, buy magazines and
books on the topic, and surf the net to find Websites where
you find out as much as you can about it. Then concentrate
on clearly and concisely writing out your plan.

It’s essential that you have a structured approach and your
plan should feature the following areas:

Accurate Description

You must write down clearly what you want to achieve. For
example, if you want to start a business what sort of
business is it? Do you want to work alone or with a
partner? Do you want to work from home or will you require
business premises? For how many hours do you want to work
in the business? And how will you measure its success? Be
precise about the details or else it will simply not happen.

Priorities

You must be sure what your priorities are. Be careful not
to set targets that are unrealistic in the context of your
life. Be sure not to overstretch yourself or to commit to
things that will cause you to neglect your loved ones.

Obstacles

Examine what may stand in the way of you achieving your
aims. How can you overcome any obstacles? Be as honest and
thorough as you can even if it means confronting areas of
your own personality or your own abilities.

Timescale

Your objectives must be timed so be clear in stating when
you intend to achieve them. This may be weeks but it could
be years. Be honest and realistic in defining your
timescales.

Measures

You must have a way of measuring your progress towards your
goal. You must regularly review how far you have gone and
ensure that it is a written record of some form. Maybe you
could keep a journal or a diary. Set targets for set
periods of days, months, years etc and monitor your
progress.

Motivation

You must understand your motives for setting the goal. What
are your reasons for doing what you are doing? Be prepared
to accept that what you want may change. So be flexible and
make alterations to your goals if need be. Don’t let the
pursuit of your goals become a chore.

And one other tip; write your goals in the present tense
rather than the future. Use sentences like: “I am running
my own successful business from home”; “I live in a large 5
bedroom house with a swimming pool and a paddock and
stables for my two horses”; “I am a confident and happy
person.”

That way your mind will accept more readily what it is you
want to achieve and the steps you need to take to do so.
Plan your goals carefully and by following these strategies
you will succeed.

If you are a writer wanting to be heard, write online
articles. If you are a reader looking for information about
certain subjects, read online articles. It’s that simple.
Millions of people have discovered the benefits of writing
and reading articles online. So, what is the big attraction
and what’s in it for you?

Write Online Articles

If you have a business, product or service you want to
promote, the best way to do it is to write online articles
about it and get them widely read. That is where companies
called article marketers, who publish your articles come in
to play.

Publishing online articles with an article marketing
website allows you to get your name and what you are
promoting out there. The beauty of it is you don’t have to
spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on marketing
and promotional tools. Writing articles online gives you
the benefit of free advertising and promotion.

The best method to successfully write online articles is to
focus on the key features of what you are trying to
promote. Then, write an article summing up those features
and detailing why they would be of benefit to your
prospective buyers. You will not only get your name and
product or service out there, but you will also build
yourself a reputation as an authority figure on your
particular subject.

Benefits of Writing Online Articles

* Get more clicks on your links

* Raise your ranking in the search engines

* Attract your target audiences and traffic

* Improve your Internet presence

* Gain recognition as an expert

* Increase your sales

* Take advantage of free advertising

* Repeat traffic

Read Online Articles

There is also much to gain when you read online articles.
If you are trying to start a business, you have a lot of
research ahead of you. You will save a lot of time and
energy by reading about what others have done in your
situation. You can find out what works and what doesn’t.
You can learn the best methods to go about certain tasks
through someone else’s trial and error.

Online articles in the form of trade publications give you
the latest information in your industry. This information
includes details on subjects like:

* Latest industry trends

* Current customer needs

* Most popular product lines

* Successful marketing strategies of your competitors

* Upcoming trade show information

* Contact information about suppliers

* Upcoming new products from competitors

The more you read online articles, the more prepared you
will be when it comes time to launch your new business or
latest product or service. The Internet is the number one
venue for sales and marketing of any business. This even
includes companies that do most of their business in person
and offline.

The bottom line is this: The more you write articles
online, the more free advertising you can take advantage
of. The more you read articles online, the more prepared
you will be to tackle your own business ups and downs. It
is a win, win opportunity that is just an Internet page and
a mouse click away. Why not take advantage of both free
advertising and learning from someone else’s mistakes? The
only outcome you can expect is free and easy success. Who
could ask for more than that?

Many people are finding that they are able to put their
skills and talents to use by seeking out freelance work on
the internet. Those working from home in India are familiar
with the types of online jobs that utilize their computer
technology skills, and others around the world are
discovering how profitable this can be. Freelance writers,
editors, marketers and programmers are all finding
legitimate work through the Internet.

Another great way to make money while working from home in
Canada or elsewhere, is through multilevel marketing (mlm)
advertising. MLM advertising can boost the exposure that
your mlm business receives.

Simply incorporating links to your mlm business in your
email signature or forum posts can generate mlm network
marketing leads. These leads can then be turned into cash
in your bank account. Of course, the more time, effort and
energy you invest, the greater the financial gain.

For those who enjoy blogging, adding a link to your mlm
business in your daily blog posts can also expand the
number of mlm network marketing leads you receive. This
type of mlm advertising is so effective that you can
continue with your normal, daily routine undisturbed while
you simultaneously earn extra money.

Some disreputable mlm opportunities will charge you a hefty
fee for mlm advertising software. Honest, reputable
multilevel marketing opportunities will never charge you
for this type of service. In fact, they will provide you
with software and give you all of the support you need to
generate network marketing leads free of charge!

If you have seen the ads on the Internet promising you the
ability to work from home in Australia or from anywhere in
the world, you may have been intrigued - especially with
today’s sluggish economy.

Then the first step to making those ads work for you is
figuring out whether you’d like to do freelance work or get
involved with mlm advertising. When it comes to any kind of
mlm business, avoid the ones charging a large fee to get
started. Remember, credible opportunities won’t charge you
for software and will have a proven record of success.